BlogHer, TheFind.com and Doctors Without Borders kicked off an initiative yesterday that I blogged about in the weekly BlogHer Mommy & Family newsletter. It's a story of how the generosity of a community bloggers created a philanthropic effort to generate $10,000 in vaccinations by people around the world. I'm extremely proud of the solution this advertising community developed for sponsors to support a favorite cause. The story follows...and our official press release is here ~ Lisa
Ever notice that this is the time of year when some people lose their ever-lovin' minds -- over nothing? Check. Out. The "Wii"diculous-ness.
This year, I have the antidote: A beautiful story of seasonal love and generosity. One that turns my sarcastic self into a weepy mamacita prone to bursting into tears and hugging the strangers watching me type in this cafe.
Here goes:
About three weeks ago, two members of BlogHer's viral advertising network emailed me with the same fantastic idea. I'll paraphrase: "Hey," said Jenn Satterwhite and Alanna Kellogg, "On the days when BlogHerAds isn't running an ad, how about replacing that hole in our blogs with a public service announcement?" they said. "Let's do some good."
Hmmm. I said, "Let's ask everyone." I sent out the word to our 160+ BlogHerAds bloggers and WHAM -- I had more email than Santa.
Not only did BlogHerAds members want to do this, we had so many agencies nominated for a promotion that I had to write a survey so they could vote on a winner.
And what a winner: Doctors Without Borders, "an independent international medical humanitarian organization that delivers emergency aid to people affected by armed conflict, epidemics, natural or man-made disasters, or exclusion from health care in more than 70 countries." More here.
But wait -- it gets better.
The day after we announced the public service campaign (huge props to Karen Rani, Izzy and Leah who donated promotion art for free), Jory Des Jardins, who leads our business development and alliances team, was on the phone with a marketing genius at TheFind.com. This marketing genius had a crazy idea -- she wanted to figure out a way to marry a marketing campaign for TheFind.com's new search engine with a philanthropic donation.
Jory knows what to do with this kind of idea--Voila! Thanks to the initiative and generosity demonstrated by the bloggers who participate in BlogHerAds, the generosity of TheFind.com and Jory's fantastic work to bring it all together, TheFind.com has launched a campaign capable of donating $10,000 to Doctors Without Borders.
Now it's up to all of us to surf and make it a success:
Here's how it works:
1. You Click and search on something "red".
2. TheFind.com gives. For every search on something that includes the term "red", they'll donate $1 to Doctors Without Borders.
C'mon. You know you need red. You cannot get ENOUGH!
Red electric guitars - stop singing into that hairbrush and GO for it!
This campaign will run until the goal of a $10,000 donation for Doctors Without Borders is reached -- according to Doctors Without Borders, a $10,000 donation provides 10,000 people with vaccinations for meningitis or measles.
See why I'm choked up? I'm choked up by you, bloggers, and for you -- because this concept certainly flies in the face of anyone who thinks that bloggers (moms or not) don't listen, don't count and aren't invested in more than watching our kittens and kids do their thing.
As MotherGooseMouse says so eloquently today:
"Channelling Stuart Smalley... "[O]ur collective efforts as part of the BlogHer Ad Network have inspired one of our sponsors to donate up to $10,000 to a charitable organization, thanks to our public service announcement. "That’s HUGE. And yet it’s only a small example of the power we wield. "This medium is still in its infancy. Whether we are writing about dirty diapers or democratic discourse - and many of us write about both of these, in addition to so much more - we are blazing a trail. "Stay tuned for more trail developments… "
Amen. A big sloppy red kiss to you all.
Now let's go help Doctors Without Borders save some lives with help from TheFind.com.
Lisa Stone is a BlogHer Co-Founder. Her personal blog is Surfette.
Great work Lisa! This is an awesome story.
Posted by: Jeff Burkett | December 19, 2006 at 07:47 AM
This kind of news amazes me. It is things like this that will make people really take note of bloggers and what they are doing. Not only are we taking care of each other emotionally but we are helping make the world a better place. I think that is great.
Posted by: baggage | February 01, 2007 at 02:18 AM